Namco Bandai America yesterday let go around 90 staff, in a move that doesn't just cut costs at the U.S. branch of the Pac-Man publisher, but will also see local development shifted back to Japan.

Some of the losses are the result of a merger between the company's online and mobile divisions, while others are the result of the publisher relocating "a considerable amount of game development" from its San Jose studio back to Japan.

"We are partnering with external development studios out there because that is where the game business is going," Namco Bandai's Carlson Choi tells VentureBeat. "Our goal is to move into digital games and broaden to different platforms. The details are being sorted out now."